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South Bay SDA Church

Esther

Jeremy Arnall

Behind The Scenes

Coincidence Or Providence

For Such A Time As This

Footsteps of Faith

Out of the Ordinary

Joy in the Promise

A Divine Reversal

Front porch, good morning, on the front porch of his little country store in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln and Barry, his partner, stood.

Business was all gone and Barry asked, how much longer can we keep this business going?

Lincoln answered, it looks as if our business is just about winked out.

Then he continued, you know, I wouldn't mind so much if I could just do what I want to do.

I wouldn't mind so much if we could just sell everything we've got and pay all our bills and just have enough left over to buy a little book called Blackstone's Commentary on English Law.

Shortly thereafter, a strange-looking wagon was coming up the road.

The driver angled it up close to the store porch and then looked at Lincoln and said, I'm trying to move my family out west.

I've got a good barrel here that I could sell for 50 cents." Abraham Lincoln's eyes went along the wagon and came to the wife looking at him pleadingly, face thin and emaciated.

Lincoln ran his hand into his pocket and he took out, according to him, the last 50 cents that he had.

And he said, I reckon I could use a good barrel.

All day long, the barrel sat on the front porch of that store.

Barry kept chiding Lincoln about that barrel.

Late in the evening, Lincoln walked out and looked down into that barrel.

He saw something in the bottom of it, papers strewn and so forth, and things that he hadn't noticed before.

His long arms went down into the barrel and as he fumbled around in the papers, he hit something solid.

He pulled out a book and, you're not gonna believe this, it was Blackstone's Commentary on English Law.

Lincoln later wrote, I stood there looking at holding the book and looking up toward the heavens there came a deep impression on me that God had something for me to do And He was showing me now that I had to get ready for it.

Martin Luther put it well when he wrote, God's wonderful works which happen daily are lightly esteemed.

Not because they are of no import, but because they happen so constantly and without interruption.

Man, Luther writes, is used to the miracle that God rules the world and upholds all creation.

And because things run, daily run their appointed course, it seems insignificant.

And no man thinks it worth his while to meditate upon it and to regard it as God's wonderful work.

And yet, it is a greater wonder than that Christ fed 5, 000 men and 5 loaves and made wine from water." The next several weeks we want to go through a series of studies all on a little book named Esther.

As we look at God's providence, which as you will consider that as we approach Thanksgiving, we would do well to consider his providence.

As we approach the new year, we should be comforted by the story of his providence.

Title of the message this morning is a behind-the-scenes look.

Dear Lord, please speak to our hearts this morning.

I pray that you hide me, that you clothe me with your glory, that that I might be but a nail to hold the picture of your beautiful face.

Please wash me, cleanse me, fill me that I might be a vessel for your glory.

I pray that your Holy Spirit will come and speak through me and speak to each heart and that in this place angels would attend and protect from all harm.

The world is convulsing under sin, but we thank you for this moment right here, right now, in this holy place and time.

And if you're at all familiar with the book, you might have asked at some point, how did it get here, right?

In some ways it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the canon, with the rest of Scripture, there is, of course, as you probably are familiar, no mention of God in the book.

There's not even a mention of his law in the book.

There's not a mention of his covenant with his people in this book.

So no mention of God, no mention of his law, no mention of his covenant.

There are apparent, I'm sorry, there are no apparent miracles, at least at first glance, in this book.

And for that matter, it really doesn't seem to possess any prominent religious elements except for the act of fasting, which we will later see.

The book isn't referenced by the writers of the New Testament nor by the early Church Fathers.

In fact, there was no Christian commentary on this book until 836 AD, as if no 1 knew what to do with it.

In fact, it is the only book of the Old Testament not found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls.

So how does the seemingly secular book find its way into the holy canon of Scripture?

It is for this reason that I am thankful it did.

First, it's important that we note the historical context of the story of Esther.

This morning we will consider the first chapter of this short book.

Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, This was the Ahasuerus who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia.

In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan, the citadel, that in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants.

The powers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the princes and the provinces being before him, when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom, the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, 180 days in all.

And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting 7 days for all the people who were present in Shushan, the citadel from great to small, in the court of the garden and of the king's palace.

There were white and blue linen curtains fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on silver rods and marble pillars and the and the couches.

Couches were made of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of alabaster, turquoise, and white and black marble.

And they served drinks in golden vessels, each vessel being different from the other with royal wine in abundance according to the generosity of the king.

In accordance with the law the drinking was not compulsory, excuse me, for So the king had ordered all the officers of his household that they should do according to each man's pleasure.

Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, i.e.

Drunk, he commanded Mahuman, Bista, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagatha, Zethar, and Carcas, 7 eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold.

But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command, brought by his eunuchs.

Therefore the king was furious and his anger burdened with him.

Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times, for this was the king's manner toward all who knew law and justice, those closest to him being Karshina, Shethar, Admuthah, Tarshish, Merez, Marcina, and Mimucan, the 7, can you imagine naming your kid Mimoukine?

Anyway, the 7 princes of Persia and Media who had access to the king's presence and who ranked highest in the kingdom.

What shall we do to Queen Vashti according to law?

Because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus brought to her by the eunuchs.

Then Mimucan answered before the king and the princes, Queen Vashti has not only wronged the king, but also the princes and all the people who are in the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

For the queen's behavior will become known to all women So that they will despise their husbands in their eyes when they report King Ahasuerus has commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in before him, but she did not come.

This very day the noble ladies of Persia and media will say to all the king's officials that they have heard of the behavior of the queen.

Thus, there will be excessive contempt and wrath." Sounds like they're a bit scared, doesn't it?

If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go out from him and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it will not be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus.

And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.

When the king's decree which he will make is proclaimed throughout all his empire for it is great all wives will honor their husbands both great and small and the reply please the king and the princess and the king did according to the word of Memechan.

Then he sent letters to all the king's provinces, to each province in its own script, and to every people in their own language, That each man should be master of his own house and speak in the language of his own people.

The first character in our story is Ahasuerus, whose Greek name is Xerxes, the name most historians recognize.

And it says that it was in the third year of his reign that he held a lavish feast for 180 days.

Now whoever heard of a six-month party, right?

Perhaps a little historical background can help us.

The story fits historically between chapters 6 and 7 of Ezra.

And chapter 1 appears to have taken place around the year 483 to 482 BC.

Ahasuerus or Xerxes was the son of King Darius who was the son of King Cyrus.

Indeed a rather illustrious heritage you might say.

Xerxes' son was known as Artaxerxes, who was the king that would issue the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem in 457 BC.

Based on the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus, who was a contemporary of that time, this 180-day feast was to show his wealth and might to his princes and governors So as to solicit their support for the aid and planning for this campaign against the Greeks.

You see, it appears that he was seeking to avenge his father Darius' defeat at the hands of the Greeks in Marathon in 490 BC.

You see, that was the famous battle in which a man ran 26 miles and thus we call such races today marathons.

And so Xerxes launched a campaign against the Greeks after years of careful planning and preparation which evidently included this 180 day period.

Series

Esther

Behind The Scenes

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

The United States Attorney General, Democracy, Prophecy, and the Future Religious Liberty

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Revival Plan-The Elijah Solution

The Elijah Solution - Part 1

1h

Restoration 2025: Revelation of Healing

06 Knowing the Time

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The Face of Jesus Christ

The Face of Jesus Christ- Part 1

28m

Don’t Kick the Donkey!

42m

A Day to Remember

28m

How to Grow Spiritually

Looking to Jesus

47m

Revelation Today Crusade

1. The Ancient Calendar that Reveals Your Future

1h

Wilderness Wandering

The Law and the Covenant

32m

Plenary

11 Even So

48m

The Big Questions (Evening Meetings)

10. The Reformation Will Not Be Televised

2h 6m

Lost in Paradise

42m

Sound Doctrine